The ACRA report is good as far as it goes, but -- alas --
all is still not terribly rosy. True, the proposals in
the House to eliminate NEH and NEA as of Oct 1 failed,
however the remaining House plans are to cut both agencies
by 40% for FY 96 and to cease funding NEA by FY 98. Whether
those of us at NEH would be eliminated at that same time is
still unclear. The Senate cuts are more modest. Still, the
battles are far from over. Presumably a conference
committee will iron out the differences between the House
and Senate budget bills, and this compromise would
hopefully amount to less than a 40% cut, but the truth is
that NEH is still likely to face substantial cuts for the
foreseeable future. Bipartisan support based on general
principles cannot withstand the current mood of budgetary
retrenchment. This might be of interest to those
anthropologists and archaeologists who have ever gotten an
NEH grant, or who might ever want to apply.